To keep congruous with the previous post, I'm going to keep in spirit of reviewing and give you a review on mango mousse cake (specifically the one displayed in figure 1).
I've never had mango mousse cake before today. My relationship with the fruit and its other flavored subsidiaries have always been a love-love situation, no room in my heart to hate mangoes. This case was no different. Went ape shit over this cake. Freaking worth it. That's that.
note: We partook of this food from the Gods in the theatre-- btw watched Gamer, interesting stuff storyline/concepts, though I would've rather seen the storyline run in its own series for some further expansion. Not to mention Gerrard Butler being the boat of my dreams (see fig 2.), but I digress-- So, it was especially delicious after witnessing the movie attendants thwart others attempts to bring "outside food". We don't settle for this so-called popping corn in theaters.
Gritty synopsis: Hot popular possessed girl (w/ superhuman powers) vs. Nerd best friend (w/ power of repartee)
Guess who wins?
The movie starring my guilty pleasure, Megan Fox, was surprisingly pretty entertaining. Definitely a leave-your-brain-at-the-door movie. But who really goes into a movie, starring Megan Fox, expecting a Schindler's list performance/storyline/anything?
Adam Brody brought his Seth-esque wit, Amanda Seyfried brought the emotion, and Megan Fox brought the Intellect. And by Intellect you know I mean T&A. Entertainingly self-aware, not-so-dark dark comedy. & it may get you jumping, just a little, in your seat.
Straight up: 3.5 Megan fox make-out scenes out of 5
My beloved Metric, as fans already know, is releasing their fourth album, Fantasies, on April 14th, but, it leaked a couple weeks ago. I've been playing it straight since last weekend (and very intently might I add).
Frontrunner of the band, goddess Emily Haines wrote parts of it whilst exiled in Argentina, and well, the album seems to be a little more introspective in terms of writing. It took four years to create, but the results seem to show the time it took. It think it's definitely a more mature album, with most songs being a little more mellow.
The approach the band took was to preview the album sort of "campfire style," playing songs as they were still being refined. For me, this wasn't the best decision because it causes fans to expect the best possible version of the songs they've already heard and learned to love. I think this is especially true with the song "Gimme Sympathy." I loved it when I first heard it, but I'm not quite so in love with the album version. But, that's okay.
When it comes down to it, the songs I'm currently most into are the ones I hadn't before. I don't want to contribute to leaking the whole album, so I offer one of my favourites: Metric - Gold Guns Girls
I think it's one of the more fun songs on the album, and it's just damn catchy! And deefinitely make sure to drop by the official site to pick up a free download of an acoustic "Help I'm Alive."
And, in keeping with "Gimme Sympathy," I must ask:
Who'd you rather be? The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?
So I've covered both NYLON's transformation and Twilight lately...and here they are, together.
My only wish? That I hadn't subscribed to NYLON after all.
From the cover alone, I'm disappointed. I wasn't a fan of the last issue, but with this cover, it looks like NYLON's trying to be Teen Vogue or something. It's just seems to have lost its edge. Perhaps my expectations for the magazine been too high, but, this just doesn't look like what NYLON should be to me.
Admittedly, the design is good and clean, but it just doesn't seem to be what would appeal to NYLON's readers. Maybe it's just me, but although the summer-y colour palette is appealing, it lack a sense of edginess. Even the way Kristen's hair is laid on top of the NYLON masthead doesn't work - it just makes it look fake...it's just seems done wrong. And the wardrobe styling? Maybe I'm behind on the trends or something, but I'm just not feeling it...
The article covering Kristen, "uncensored" reads: On the Twilight Madness: “Anywhere we’d go for Twilight was a psychotic situation. The sound was deafening, and it’s thoughtless, as well… You get a slew of all these bullshit questions like, ‘What’s it like to kiss a vampire?’ and ‘How much do you love Robert?’ Then you’ll get one that’s actually real, but you’re like, ‘No, I can’t right now, I can’t even consider [it].”
Are you kidding? I feel like this girl, although she can be pretty at times, just needs to get over herself. I'm not a Twilight fan, but as the lead actress in a very popular movie, shouldn't she at least humour her audience? Maybe she's not a fan of the series herself or something, but I'm sure it's part of her job description to pretend like she is...at least until she's done with the series.
On the cover, it quotes her saying, "Nobody should every put what I say in a magazine." I'm sure she means it to be witty and badass...but it is true, if only for her own sake. Much better to be quiet and mysterious than to say things that make you come off as incredibly unprofessional.
Feature articles from NYLON used to make me like the actress/singer a little more, or at least spark some interest, but this is just making me go, "Please, stop."
NYLON, please stop. MAYBE I'm being a tad harsh? I haven't actually received the issue, so maybe the rest of it will be redeeming. Here's hoping...
I was incredibly excited Monday night to find my first issue from my NYLON magazine subscription in my mailbox. I haven't actually purchased a copy in awhile, so I was definitely looking forward to cracking it open. I've been a longtime lover of NYLON, especially for it's fun design sensibility and use of hand-drawn elements in typography and illustrations, as well as the cut-and-paste look of various collage pieces.
Upon reading the Letter from the Editor in the current issue, I found that NYLON had a new art director - Michael Pangilinan, someone who had been on the design team when it was redesigned in 2003. I was immediately curious. His last name is Filipino and is the same as someone I know, yes, but also because I've always loved NYLON's design. You might even say it's the magazine that's been pushing me to want to get into magazine editorial design myself. So, as a result, I had this crazy idea that NYLON was pushing it to the next level...or something along those lines.
Well, sadly, I was disappointed with this issue of NYLON. Yes, I've been tired of it's design here and there in the past, but for me, with this one, nothing popped. For a magazine that I occasionally picked up just to look through for it's design, it just wasn't fun anymore. Although still well-designed, in my opinion, it's no longer as distinct. I'm not even going to get started on the content, because to be honest, I just haven't been motivated to read much of it yet. We'll see how that goes.
Relishing in disappointment, I googled the new art director. His work is actually pretty awesome. Check it out for yourself. Make sure to savour the classic NYLON layouts. The rest of his design work isn't bad either, and some of it actually seems to resemble the aesthetic of my particular program, which I found quite interesting.
So, I'm hoping that it's just a first issue thing and he'll come back into something more original with the next one. What do you guys think of NYLON, past and present?
"People ask the question what’s a rock n rolla? And I tell them that it’s not about drums, drugs and hospital drip. Oh no there’s more than that my friend, we all like a bit of the good life, some the money some the drugs others the sex game the glamor or the fame. A rock n rolla, oh he’s different. why? Cause a real rock n rolla wants the whole fucking lot." - Archy
verdict on the movie: Watch it. People have been going on and on about how it isn't the same or as good as snatch but they can shove it. It's a whole lot better than the crap showing in theaters or coming out on dvd. The title is Rock n Rolla not Snatch 2, take the movie as it is, entertaining.
So I'm hyperventilating thinking about seeing Andrew McMahon live this Thursday with Megs. I've been on a cleansing diet of only Something Corporate and Jack's mannequin for days now. I can totally imagine me being one of those fat girls crying in the crowd in utter awe of meeting one of their idols, like one of those moms at a Clay Aiken concert. This frightens me so, but I can only imagine Megs trepidation of having me beside her.
So when I first heard "Glass Passenger", Jack's mannequins newest release, I kind of loathed it. I found it to be sub-par and not as raw, as I was use to from Something Corporate, and not as catchy as Jack's mannequins previous album "Everything in Transit". Yet after a couple more skims I came to see how beast epic the new album really is. I mean he pretty much left SoCo because he was writing songs that didn't suit the band any longer yet I found comfort in "Everything in Transit" since it had traces of SoCo woven in most songs. I just had to get use to his further departure from SoCo in glass passenger & when it comes down to it, the newest album is as raw and in depth (if not more) as the good ole SoCo days and as catchy as Everything in transit. Now to the mix! Tally-ho!
Okay, well, I do, but I don't really. I only ever watch when one of "my shows" are on - you know, the ones where you make sure everyone else in the room only talks during commercial breaks? Oh, wait, is that just me? Well, anyway...
Recently, I was flipping through channels and happened upon MuchMusic whilst they were airing a program that featured the latest music videos. And, let me tell you, I was blown away. Mind you, I haven't really paid attention to music videos since Avril Lavigne was in the limelight. (And yes, blaring Avril is still a guilty pleasure, I do admit to it.)
So yes, many of the music videos I saw that day flipping channels definitely sucked. But there was a clear diamond in the rough.
Gnarls Barkley's "Who's Gonna Save My Soul".
I've never been a Gnarls Barkley fan in my life. Truth be told, after watching the video, I didn't even remember who had sang the song - I was convinced it had been K-Os (whom I don't mind, solely for his collaboration on "Mushaboom" with Feist). Okay, so it doesn't really make sense to make a music video to your single where the song serves as background music to a would-be movie. But, the video's just so smart. And true. I just wish the movie was real. After the music video finished, I was sitting there, waiting for the rest of the story.
Although the dancing heart wasn't the best of the video, just the conversation..."Well, maybe I can just keep it for a little while, use it for small things", "for a lack of a better term, heartless" etc. makes it worthwhile.
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And secondly, another video I stumbled upon recently.
I've loved Kate Nash for awhile now, but I just saw her video for "Foundations" recently. And well, it's just so fun! No big explanation for this one, you just have to love Kate! Oh, and plus the lyrics are actually pretty smart.
Lastly, gotta love Feist! I don't care is she's presumably sold-out or whatever by agreeing to be part of a national ad campaign - it was for Apple, and Apple is awesome and my Macbook is my baby.
She's still awesome in my books. And I completely regret the fact that I didn't get tickets to either of her Toronto tour dates! I just love how quirky she is, which is definitely apparent in this video.
Feist's "One Evening"
So, moral of the story...err, post: don't dismiss music videos! What are your favourite music videos?
♥ Megs
P.S. Television-related sidenote: I watched So You Think You Can Dance Canada at my Thanksgiving celebration, since there was nothing else to do...did anyone else notice the obvious American Apparel product placement? I swear everyone was wearing the v-neck/deep v/acid wash/knee socks!
Elisane is a Montreal-based due who's Myspace classifies them as electronica, down-tempo and classical, and the description pretty much fits the bill. Their sound is really chill - not music to fall asleep to, but it has a very chill-out-at-a-coffee-house-laid-back kinda feel. Listening to the first song on their Myspace, I was immediately reminded of Mozella's "Light Years Away", which I found probably about a year ago on the One Tree Hill soundtrack. (Note: OTH = preeetty good music - often poppy and dramatic, but occasionally, something great) . The voice of the Elsiane's singer is definitely different, not something you hear on the radio or anything. It's got a cool, haunting thing, and the instrumentals for a couple tracks definitely remind me of Stars, and I looooove Stars...but more on them in a bit.
I haven't ever really listened to Portishead, but I think Elsiane could be compared in terms of sound. So their music's not exactly the first track I'd run to listen to everyday, but it's something that would definitely fit pretty well into my mix. It's a cool, new sound with a nice jazz-y quality. Oh and have I mentioned they cite Michel Gondry as an influence? You can't go wrong with that.
So, definitely check out their Myspace, or check out their CD, "Hybrid", which came out in August of this year.
AND, because they're awesome, Nettwerk Music Group is allowing us to offer you guys a free download! Elsiane - Mend
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STARS
So, about Stars. They're another Montreal-based "indie" band, and they just happen to be one of my favourites. I saw them at a free concert at York University a few weeks ago. Y'know how you'd expect them to kinda have the audience swaying? Well, they pretty much rocked it out as much as they possibly could. It was awesome to hear Elevator Love Letter and My Favourite Book (a couple of my favourites), plus a few other classics. I was surprised they included some other tracks from Heart too, and didn't really cover much from their latest album, In Our Bedroom After the War. They didn't play my all-time favourite though - Calendar Girl.
I was also kinda disappointed to see that Torque took the role as the band's frontman, and not Amy Millan, who kinda stayed more in the background, with quieter vocals. That aspect of the show definitely changed the way I listen to Stars, since now, Torque's vocals definitely seem to overpower in the recordings too...I guess I just never noticed earlier how big a role he plays in the band. Maybe this change in perspective is just because I never took the kind of interest in the band where I go and look at Youtube videos and such of them performing - otherwise I would know how things went about. Or, more likely, I was hoping it would be a woman-fronted band, 'cause that just makes them seem that much cooler. Don't worry Stars, I still love you!
With the combined forces of aspiring designers Bianca and Danielle, rare finds from thrift stores to markets to the girls' very own closets can make their way into your hands. Hunting for the perfect fashion item or accessory is Bianca and Danielle's passion and they've decided to share their treasures with the world.
LABELS, TAGS & OTHER THINGS WE SHOULDN'T PIN ON PEOPLE
Listening to:
